(AP) Five people were killed after a helicopter carrying seven passengers and crew crashed Wednesday as it flew off the coast of Morecambe Bay in northwest England, police said.
Lancashire police, who are coordinating the search, and the Maritime & Coastguard Agency, said five bodies had been found by searchers in the cold water of the large bay.
The search for the other two people aboard the helicopter, which was carrying five Centrica PLC employees when it went down 24 miles of the coast around 6:40 p.m., was continuing.
It was not immediately known what caused the crash.
A pair of Royal Air Force helicopters, two lifeboats and other vessels were searching for the other two missing people.
Energy concern Centrica PLC did not immediately comment on the deaths, but in an earlier statement said that a helicopter used to ferry its workers had gone missing in the East Irish Sea.
It did not say if it had crashed into the water or had to ditch.
"Centrica is working closely with HM Coastguard who have mounted a full scale search and rescue operation," the company said. "Centrica is contacting all families connected with its Morecambe Bay gas fields and expresses its thoughts for those missing at this time."
Centrica said it had contracted with CHC Scotia Helicopters to operate the aircraft.
The Maritime & Coastguard Agency said the craft was thought to have ditched in the cold water of the large bay that is just east of the Isle of Man.
Royal Air Force Rescue Center official Michael Mulford said that signals from a distress beacon believed to be part of the helicopter were detected after it hit the water.
There were no immediate details on what type of helicopter it was.
Gas was discovered offshore of Morecambe Bay in 1974, and some rigs operate there extracting the 6 trillion cubic feet of natural gas that is beneath the sea floor.
In February 2004, 23 shellfish collectors from China died when they were trapped by the tide on the sand at Morecambe Bay and drowned.
(AP)
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